c/antique-tech-support

20

stone.evan•11h ago

Finally gave in and tried a USB floppy drive emulator on my Amiga 500

I've been running an old Amiga 500 with a dying floppy drive for years. I kept avoiding those Gotek emulators cause I figured it was just some cheap knockoff that would corrupt my disks or something. Last month I grabbed one for $35 off a retro forum and loaded a 16GB USB stick with WHDLoad games. Works perfect, loads faster than the original drive, and I don't have to hunt down floppy disks at garage sales anymore. Has anyone else had good luck with these emulators on older machines?

25

ellis.charles•1d ago

Hit 512MB memory upgrade on my old ThinkPad and found the limit real fast

I was upgrading my T23 from 256MB to 512MB thinking it would breathe new life into it for retro gaming. Plugged in two 256MB sticks and it booted fine, ran great for about 20 minutes. Then I tried to open three browser tabs and a spreadsheet at the same time and the whole thing froze solid. Had to hard reset it and lost some unsaved notes I typed up. Has anyone else run into weird memory caps on these older laptops where more RAM doesn't actually help?

12

the_anthony•1d ago

Swapped out a dead IDE drive for a Compact Flash card in my old Power Mac

I was trying to get this G3 beige tower running again, and the old hard drive kept clicking. Threw in a 16GB CF card with a IDE adapter and it booted right up, no noise at all. Anybody gone the SSD route instead for these old Macs, and was it worth the extra trouble?

10

foster.wade•2d ago

Hit 1000 hours on my old oscilloscope and didn't even realize it

I was cleaning out my bench last weekend and noticed the hour meter on my Tektronix 465 was sitting at exactly 1000.0 when I powered it on. That thing's from 1978 and I've been using it for the last 8 years without ever checking the count. It kinda hit me how much time I've spent staring at waveforms on that CRT. Anyone else ever clock a weird milestone on their gear?

2

noahcampbell•18d ago

Found a trick to fix old Nintendo cartridge save batteries without soldering

I had a Zelda cart that kept losing saves and didnt want to mess with a soldering iron. Tried using a bit of aluminum foil folded over to bridge the battery contact and wedge it tighter - been working fine for 3 months now. Anyone else use a ghetto fix like this that held up?

11

elliotc10•21d ago

Talked my grandpa out of getting a vintage laser printer from 1993

Last weekend my grandpa found some old LaserJet from 1993 at a thrift store for 20 bucks and wanted to buy it. I told him to hold up and think about it because those things weigh like 50 pounds and use proprietary toner cartridges you can't find anymore. He said 'but it's built tough, they don't make em like that.' I reminded him that modern printers are cheap and the toner costs less. He then showed me a picture of the inside and the rollers were all crusty and the fuser had a burn mark. I told him it could literally start a fire if the power supply is shot. He finally gave up and bought a Brother laser for 80 bucks on sale instead. Has anyone else had to talk someone out of a fire hazard from the early 90s?

14

ray_webb6•22d ago

I wasted $75 on a 'refurbished' Commodore 64 power supply

Picked up a supposedly recapped Commodore 64 power supply from a seller on a forum. Cost me $75 shipped, which seemed fair for something that wouldn't fry my old machine. Hooked it up and within 10 minutes the voltage was jumping all over the place, nearly took out my motherboard. Turns out they just put a new fuse in and called it refurbished. Has anyone else gotten burned by these shady power supply rebuilds?

22

gonzalez.anna•22d ago

Tried a CRT monitor for retro gaming vs my LCD. Night and day difference.

Last week I hooked up a Sony Trinitron I found on Craigslist for $15. My old LCD screen had all this lag on my SNES. Mario felt like he was moving through mud. Switched to the CRT and suddenly my jumps were crisp. No input delay at all. Now I get why people hunt these things down. Anyone else notice a big difference with certain games?

9

spencer_ross•23d ago

Can we talk about using a hair dryer to fix old game carts?

I see everyone yelling at people to use isopropyl alcohol and q-tips for cleaning NES and SNES games. That works fine for surface dirt, but I had this copy of Mega Man 2 that just refused to boot no matter how many times I cleaned it. After a few days of frustration, I grabbed my wife's hair dryer and gave the cartridge a good 30 second warm up on low heat, then inserted it into the console while it was still warm. Booted right up, every time after that for the last 6 months. The heat helps with the cold solder joints on these old boards that crack from being stored in basements and attics. I still use alcohol for cleaning, but the hair dryer trick saved me from buying a replacement on eBay for $60. Has anyone else tried this for stubborn carts that won't work?

16

hall.ruby•26d ago

That old VCR I picked up from a garage sale actually worked, just needed a new belt

Found a Panasonic PV-1360 at a garage sale near my folks' place in Dayton for 5 bucks. Got it home, plugged it in, and it just made this grinding noise before spitting the tape back out. Figured out the rubber belt had turned into goo after all these years, swapped in a new one for like 8 bucks from a parts site, and now it plays my old home movies from 1995 like it's brand new. Has anyone else had luck fixing those old combo units with the TV built in?

3

torres.drew•1mo ago

Tried to fix a 1995 Sega Game Gear with a capacitor kit and fried the whole board

I was in my garage last Saturday night working on this Game Gear I got from a flea market for $15. It powered on but no sound and a dim screen, classic capacitor problems right? So I ordered a $12 cap kit online and watched like 4 YouTube tutorials before touching it. Got the old caps off fine, but when I soldered in the first new one my iron slipped and bridged two tiny contacts near the power regulator. Smoke started pouring out and the board just died completely no lights nothing now it's a paperweight. I don't even know where to find a replacement board for this version since it's the early model with the double sided board. Has anyone else done something this dumb with a handheld console? I feel like I should just toss it but it hurts to waste $27 total on this thing.

23

the_henry•1mo ago

My dad's 1980s soldering iron vs a modern $40 station from Amazon

Pulled my dad's old Weller iron out of the basement last week to fix a radio, and that thing still heats up in 30 seconds flat. Tried replacing it with one of those newer adjustable stations I got on sale, but the tip oxidized after three uses and the temp readout was off by 50 degrees. The old iron just works, no frills, no digital display to lie to you. Has anyone else found that the simpler vintage gear actually outlasts the new stuff?

22

alex_coleman•1mo ago

My 1998 Compaq monitor finally gave up the ghost last week

I had an old Compaq S700 CRT monitor running in my basement shop for years. Used it to run a DOS-based estimating program I still rely on for quick bids. Last Tuesday I turned it on and the picture went to a thin white line, then nothing. Opened it up to see if it was just a loose solder joint, but I could smell burnt electronics right away. Anyone else still holding onto old CRT monitors for specific tasks?

13

fiona_scott44•1mo ago

Rant: Found out my old Commodore 64 disk drive runs faster upside down

So I was tinkering with my C64 last night and stumbled on some old forum posts saying the 1541 drive actually works better if you flip it over. I tried it and yeah, it read a cracked copy of Ultima IV in like half the time. But then part of me wonders if that's just messing up the alignment for good. Anyone else heard this trick or am I slowly killing my drive?

24

troy996•1mo ago

Hot take: those CRT monitor rejuvenators are a waste of money

I kept hearing how a CRT rejuvenator could bring dead monitors back to life, so I bought a B&K 467 for $200 off eBay. Tried it on a Sony Trinitron from 1998 and it only made the picture worse after 2 cycles. Has anyone actually had good results with one of these things?

11

xena_anderson•1mo ago

PSA: That old CRT monitor I saved from the curb last month actually works perfectly

I grabbed a 17-inch Sony Trinitron from a curb in my neighborhood about 3 weeks ago. It was sitting in the rain for a day so I figured it was toast but I hauled it home anyway. Let it dry out for a full week in my garage before even plugging it in. Fired it up this morning and the picture is SHARP no geometry issues or color problems at all. I'm using it with my DOS retro PC and it looks just like 1998 again. Just goes to show you shouldn't assume curb finds are dead especially with old CRTs. Anyone else had luck reviving old monitors that looked totally ruined?

11

amy858•1mo ago

My dad's advice about capacitor discharge finally paid off after 15 years

Back when I was a teenager, my dad kept telling me to always discharge old CRT monitors before touching anything inside. I thought he was just being overly cautious. Last month I picked up a 1992 Macintosh Classic from a garage sale in Portland. I opened it up without thinking and got a zap that knocked me backwards off my chair. Nothing was damaged but my arm was sore for two days. Now I finally understand why he was so insistent about that step. Has anyone else learned a hard lesson ignoring safety advice from a family member?

8

wrenwilson•1mo ago

Hot take: old CRT monitors are better for retro gaming than modern LCDs

I had a long talk with a guy at the swap meet last Saturday who builds custom arcade cabinets. He said I was crazy for using a 21 inch Sony Trinitron for my SNES setup because it weighs 80 pounds. But he admitted the colors look way more natural than my friend's 4K monitor with scanline filters. The timing just feels right, like the pixels were meant to glow on this glass. Has anyone else stuck with CRTs after trying the fancy modern alternatives?

13

matthew_owens9•1mo ago

Passed 100 restored Commodore 64s last night

I was moving units around in my workshop counting for a local retro show in Portland and hit exactly 102 machines I've brought back to life. That surprised me because I started this just to fix my own childhood C64, not build a whole side business. Most of them just needed new PLA chips and some reflowing on the VIC-II socket. Has anyone else lost count of how many they've fixed?

0

alice_reed47•1mo ago

Hot take: I used a modern power supply on a 486 and it fried the motherboard

I thought the ATX to AT adapter would be fine, but the voltage regulation was too aggressive and it sent a surge. I learned the hard way that you really need a proper old PSU or a modern one specifically designed for vintage loads. Anyone know a good brand for a safe replacement that won't cost a fortune?

12

evan151•1mo ago

Warning: people keep cleaning old floppy drive heads with the wrong stuff

I just saved a box of 5.25 inch disks from 1989 by using a cotton swab and pure isopropyl alcohol, not that canned air or screen cleaner junk that can leave a residue and wreck the magnetic surface, so what's your go-to method for delicate parts like this?

5

cameron724•1mo ago

The 486DX2 vs. the Pentium Overdrive: I chose wrong and I'm still mad about it.

Last year I was rebuilding a 1993-era system and hit the classic upgrade crossroad. I had a dead 486SX and the choice was a proper 66MHz DX2 chip for $40 or a weird 63MHz Pentium Overdrive CPU for $35. I went with the Overdrive because it was cheaper and sounded cooler. Big mistake. The thing ran hot enough to fry an egg, needed a special heatsink I had to hunt down, and some of my old DOS games just refused to boot with it. After three months of fiddling, I pulled it and spent the extra cash on the DX2. Has anyone else had a nightmare with one of those oddball upgrade chips from back in the day?

26

margaret_nelson•1mo ago

The floppy drive on my 1993 Packard Bell finally spins again after I cleaned the heads with a cotton swab and some isopropyl.

It took three tries and a lot of patience, but hearing that familiar whirr and actually reading a disk felt like a tiny victory.

6

taylor.jessica•1mo ago

Question about getting a 1998 iMac to talk to a modern PC

I was trying to move some old family photos off my dad's old Bondi Blue iMac and onto my Windows 11 laptop last weekend. Back in the day, I'd just burn a CD or use a floppy, but that machine doesn't have a standard USB port, just those old round ones. I spent a whole afternoon digging through boxes until I found an old USB to FireWire adapter I bought in 2005. Got it hooked up, but my PC wouldn't see it at all. The trick was I had to put the iMac into Target Disk Mode by holding T on startup, which turns the whole computer into an external hard drive. Once I did that, the FireWire cable finally worked and I could pull the files right off the desktop. It's wild how something so simple now was a whole project back then. Has anyone else found a better way to bridge that Mac to PC gap for really old systems?

24

sandra715•1mo ago

I finally tried that 'freezer trick' on a dead hard drive from 2003

For years I thought putting a failed drive in a ziploc bag and freezing it overnight was total nonsense, just a tech myth. But last month I had a client's old Maxtor 40GB drive with family photos that wouldn't spin up. Out of pure desperation, I sealed it up, left it in my freezer for about 8 hours, let it warm up for an hour, and it actually worked long enough to pull the data off. It died again 20 minutes later, but it worked. I'm still not sure if it's a real fix or just a weird last-ditch fluke. Has anyone else had a freezer save actually work on a drive more than once, or did I just get lucky?